Letter from Qianqiu

The day after we returned from the top of the mountain, the crew of "A Thousand Years of Letters" notified us to go shoot the last set of wrap-up materials.

When the car arrived at the set, many fans gathered at the door, holding light boards and cheering banners. They rushed over when they saw our car. Through the car window, we could hear their voices shouting "Xixi" and "Yin Ge", mixed with the "click" sound of camera shutters, which made people's ears swell.

Zhao Yin lowered the car window a little, waved outside, turned to me and said, "Don't open the door yourself later. Let the assistant come to pick you up."

I nodded. Ever since the official announcement, I've always felt like someone was following me when I went out. While most of them were well-intentioned, I'd occasionally catch some unfriendly glances, which pricked me like needles...

The new assistant Xiao Zhou ran over, opened the car door, and stood in front of me to separate me from the crowd.

On the way in, a girl's voice was particularly loud, with a crying tone: "Wenxi! How can you be with him! He is not worthy of you!" I paused and turned around to see who it was, but Zhao Yin gently grabbed my wrist and led me towards him.

"Don't look." His voice fell into my ears, "Let's go inside and talk."

Without looking back, I followed him into the dressing room.

My face in the mirror looked a little pale. Zhao Yin sat next to me and asked the makeup artist to put on makeup for me first. She leaned back in her chair and looked at her phone.

"Brother Yin, those fans outside..." Xiao Zhou came in to offer water, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Just now, a few of Teacher Wenxi's fans started arguing with our fans, saying that our Brother Yin 'kidnapped' Teacher Wenxi, and even threw support banners..."

I tightened my grip on the water cup, and a little water spilled out, splashing onto my wrist. Zhao Yin looked up at Xiao Zhou, said nothing, and reached out to take the water cup from my hand, placing it on the table next to him. He then took a tissue and wiped the water off my wrist.

"It's okay, the team will take care of it."

I didn't respond and turned to look at the mirror. The makeup artist was applying eye makeup to me. The brush swept across my eyelids, which felt a little itchy. The voice of the girl just now kept replaying in my mind - "He doesn't deserve you". I knew it was a fan's obsession, but I couldn't help but take it to heart.

Zhao Yin is so good, how could he not be worthy of me? On the contrary, I feel like I have always been taken care of by him, and I can't even face the doubts of fans calmly.

The dressing room was very quiet, with only the sounds of the makeup artist's movements and Zhao Yin flipping through the script. I secretly glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at the lines on the script, his fingers tapping lightly on the word "Youming". I didn't know what he was thinking. It seemed like we hadn't been silent like this for a long time. From the official announcement to meeting the parents, we had always been wrapped in warmth, and we forgot that there is never a lack of noise in the entertainment industry.

When we were shooting the final footage, the photographer asked us to recreate the classic scene in the script - the scene where Youming plays the flute for Xu Di by the mountain stream after he gave up his immortal status. I sat on a rock with the prop flute in my hand, and Zhao Yin stood behind me with his hand on my shoulder. According to the script, he should look down at me with tenderness and relief in his eyes.

But when the camera was facing us, I couldn't relax at all. The voice of that girl kept ringing in my ears. I didn't even dare to look up at Zhao Yin's eyes, for fear of seeing loss in his eyes.

The photographer took several shots but was still not satisfied. He put down his camera and came over and said, "Teacher Wenxi, relax a little. Aren't your interactions with Brother Yin usually very natural? Come a little closer and look a little softer."

I took a deep breath and was about to look up when Zhao Yin suddenly said, "Let's take a break for ten minutes. Wenxi is a little tired."

He reached out to help me up and smiled at the photographer, "Sorry for the delay."

When we got to the rest area, he handed me a bottle of warm milk. I took it but didn't drink it. I just squeezed the bottle and whispered, "I'm sorry, I disturbed the filming just now."

"Tell me you're sorry." He sat next to me and touched my forehead with his finger. "Are you still thinking about what happened outside just now?"

I nodded, my nose a little sour. "They said you were not worthy of me and quarreled with your fans...it was all because of me."

"Silly or not?" He sighed and brought me closer to him, letting me lean on his shoulder. "It's normal for fans to have their own opinions. You'll understand over time. Besides, whether we're worthy or not isn't up to them to decide. It's up to us to decide."

"But I don't want your fans to be wronged because of us." My voice was a little muffled. "You've never been criticized for this kind of thing before."

"I don't care what others say." He rested his chin on my head and said in a steady voice, "I only care about whether you're happy or not. If you feel tired, we can go out less often and wait until they calm down a bit."

I leaned on his shoulder and said nothing.

People were coming and going in the rest area. Some looked at us curiously, but no one came to disturb us. We shook hands.

His hands are so warm that they can soothe my anxiety bit by bit.

Ten minutes later, the photographer came over to urge us to continue shooting. Zhao Yin took my hand and walked over and whispered in my ear, "Don't think about anything else, just look at me."

I looked up at him. There was no loss in his eyes, only tenderness, like a mountain stream, which could wash away all the irritability.

Standing in front of the camera again, he put his hand on my shoulder, as if to comfort me.

I took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes, where I could clearly see my reflection.

The photographer pressed the shutter, saying, "Yes! That's the feeling! Brother Yin, look a little softer! Teacher Wenxi, smile!"

After shooting for about half an hour, it was finally over.

The staff handed over a wrap cake with the words "Happy wrap-up of "Qianqiu Laixin"" written on it.

The director came over and patted us on the shoulders. "Thank you both for your hard work. I'm lucky to have you two starring in this play." He looked at our joined hands and smiled. "I look forward to working with you again next time."

As we were packing up to leave, Xiao Zhou ran over and said, "Brother Yin, most of the fans outside have left. The few fans who had an argument with us just now were persuaded to leave by our team and even apologized to your fans."

Zhao Yin nodded: "I see. Thank you for your hard work." He turned to look at me, "Can you rest assured now?"

I smiled and nodded: "Yeah."

When we walked out of the studio, there were no more people at the entrance. He opened the car door, let me get in first, and walked around to the driver's side. As he started the car, he suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, my mom just texted me and said she wants to invite you to dinner at her house next weekend. She'll make your favorite sweet and sour fish."

"Really?" My eyes lit up. He had said before that his mother wanted to treat me to a meal, and I was still a little nervous.

"Of course it's true." He smiled, "My mom even asked you what kind of fruit you like to eat so she can prepare it in advance."

"I eat everything. I'm not picky." I said quickly, "Don't make it too much trouble for Auntie."

"It's not a big deal. She's already so happy." He reached out and rubbed my head. "It's the weekend. I'll pick you up. Let's go early and help my mom pick vegetables."

I nodded, the uneasiness in my heart almost gone. As the car drove on the road, I looked at him and suddenly said, "Brother Yin, thank you."

"Thank me for what?" He turned and looked at me.

"Thank you for always being by my side, no matter what happens." My voice softened. "If it weren't for you, I would have panicked a long time ago."

"You're still so polite to me." He smiled and reached out to hold my hand. "No matter what happens in the future, we'll face it together, okay?"

"Okay." I squeezed his hand.

When we got home, he walked me to the door and kissed me gently on the forehead: "See you this weekend."

"See you this weekend." I smiled, opened the car door, and walked upstairs. When I reached the third floor, I looked back and saw that he was still sitting in the car, waving at me.

I waved at him, turned and ran into the corridor.

When I got home, my mom was cooking in the kitchen. She smiled when she saw me and said, "You're back? Did the shoot go well today?"

"It went pretty smoothly, just a little tiring." I walked over and hugged her waist from behind. "Mom, I'm going to Brother Yin's house for dinner next weekend. His mother is treating me."

"Really?" My mother turned around and said with a smile, "Then you have to prepare well and don't be impolite. What does Auntie like? Ask Xiao Zhao and we can buy some gifts to bring over."

"No need, Brother Yin said Auntie has everything she needs, so we can just go empty-handed." I said with a smile, "And Auntie even made sweet and sour fish for me herself."

"That's great. Xiao Zhao's mother seems like a kind person." My mother nodded. "Go wash your hands. You can eat soon."

I nodded and walked to the bathroom to wash my hands.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I had a smile on my face, and the previous anxiety was long gone. No matter how many doubts I encountered, as long as Zhao Yin was by my side and I had the support of my parents, I could keep going.

Lying in bed at night, I opened my secondary account and edited a Weibo post: "Filming is wrapped today. Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard and bring even better works." I posted a photo of the wrap cake and didn't mention the fan quarrel.

As soon as I sent it, I received a WeChat message from Zhao Yin: "Are you asleep?"

"Not yet. I'm getting ready for bed." I replied with a smiley face.

"Are you tired today? Go to bed early and stop playing with your phone." He sent a good night expression in return.

"I know. You should go to bed early too."

I put down my phone, closed my eyes, and thought about the scene of going to Zhao Yin's house on the weekend and the sweet and sour fish made by his mother. The corners of my mouth couldn't help but rise.

Maybe some things need to settle down for a few days.